Love the raw and wild early Dead..my favorite years are '72-'74. I saw over 330 shows about 98% of which were from '72-'87..i really didn't like the late '80's, way too tame, zero jamming and improv, too much midi and dyaln covers, the scene at the shows sucked after '86. I loved the early-mid '70's but this era was just priceless. Viola lee is amazing as always.

Not the greatest sound quality, but very listenable once your ears become adjusted. Having seen shows at the Avalon when it briefly re-opened about 10 years ago, I can imagine how cool it must have been to see the Dead there before LSD was made Federally illegal (though it was already illegal at the state level) in 1967. The band really rips it up on every song included here. Love Pig's organ playing and it's out front enough that you can hear it.

Even with the sound quality, I'd still give it a 4. Viola Lee in particular is stunning. As for the date, yeah, it's not January. Set list aside, if you know the Dead really well you'll notice that Garcia is achieving way too much overdrive on his amp for early '67. The guitar he's using is definitely a Les Paul, not the Starfire he would have to be using if it were January. The two tones are completely different. The Starfire is thin & boxy and has a vibrato arm, the LP is thick & smooth & all the vibrato is in the player's left hand, & the pickups have way more output. It also sounds like some mods have been done to the amp already, as the twang from '66 & early '67 is replaced by smooth screaminess.

and pigpen takes me into his church of music, and shows me his pearly keys. WOW.

Silky smooth... why why why did this have to end so soon.

Thank you Archives. Thank you Everyone

My bus came by in 88 in NY and saw every 88-91 show in the area. While I had a blast and there were fantastic great moments- 9-19-90 for example.

I just cant get enough of the choppy gruesome organsmic pigpen- Jerry really had a place in his heart for him. Pig glued this band together. It stuck for a long time. Im sure pigpens death has a lot to do with the longevity of the band. You can see how that gritty trippy innovative progressive rainbow full of sound that the dead produced is evident as early as 66 and as late as 95.

emotionally connected to the dead forever...

MM

4.67 stars I really appreciate being able to listen to this show. I am a big pigpen fan and his organ is highlighted. new potato at 5:00 he is rocking and even sounds like he is jamming with himself around the 6 min mark. I also like the past few comments on the history of 1967 wow some of you know your stuff. thanks. as far as modern dead and bobby licking sweat, etc. I can understand some of the angst. i have not been to a modern dead show or futher show; i just have a hard time with the 120 price tag for the band wo Jerry, but am thankful to have first come in contact with the grateful dead one night in 1987 while in college. I did not get into the show that night but it started the long strange trip...

As others have pointed out, this show is definitely not from January '67. They weren't doing huge Viola Lees like this so early!

Some thoughts about the date:
First, Morning Dew and New Potato Caboose are the same versions as on the 10/22/67 SBD. Hard to believe, but check for yourself! (Some enterprising soul could make a 'matrix' of these...)
Also, Kreutzmann seems to be the only drummer here (he's also the only drummer on 10/22, though Mickey Hart joined on 9/29).
Also, check the Alligator - it's a very long Alligator>Caution that starts with the drum intro we're familiar with; then they dive into the jam after the vocals.
So this has to be after the earlier Alligators which start NOT with drums, but with Jerry's guitar intro: 6/18, 8/4, 9/3, and 9/15. (And also 5/5, which I think is also misdated.) Some of these go into Caution (6/18 & 9/15), some don't (5/5, 8/4, 9/3).
The next Alligators we have (from a fall studio session - perhaps 10/20 - and the 11/10 show) have not only the drum intro, but also a drum solo after the vocals, now that Mickey Hart's in the band.
So I'd say this "Avalon" show must be from sometime in-between 9/15 and 11/10/67...basically late September or October.
It's hard to be more specific though, when we're missing so many pieces of the year, and some of the other shows we have also might be misdated.

EDIT - Listening again, I hear two drummers in the Alligator>Caution. Since it doesn't yet have the drum break after the Alligator verses - BUT, after a few minutes' jamming, they do stop for a drum break while Garcia sings "Alligator runnin' round my door" - I'm pretty certain this is an October '67 show.

This AUD tape is also in pretty poor sound, I admit - along with the 9/15/67 AUD, another recording that was made too far from the stage - but we do get to hear what the Dead sounded like in a theater in '67, very explosive with Pigpen's swirling keyboard very dominant in the sound.

"." Nonintuitive)

Sound is not really that bad - I've heard a lot worse.What's more annoying is not knowing the correct date - I'm guessing at September '67,but who knows for sure ? Just enjoy,it's fun.

I know this show can't be from january of '67 because as far as my knowledge goes the first alligator>caution was performed at winterland at some other point in 1967 but definitely not in january

As usual, an EARLY Dead show with nothing but raw energy and talent. The sound quality is no knock out but for it's time it's fucking amazing. Especially for early 67. (I've heard so much worse from '75 (Pink Floyd) and even an '82 (Metallica) show that were so much worse, even if they were stealth, no one said this wasn't either.) There are a few later Dead shows that are about as rough.

To those who say unlistenable, you need to hear more. (Really, there's some serious SHIT out there.)

And to those of you who want to bitch about not being able to download soundboards... please, do all of us a favour, and shut the fuck up. You're ramblings here aren't going to do you a damn bit of good. Enjoy what you get, cause at least they give you that. If they wanted to REALLY piss us off, they could take the soundboards down entirely. So again, shut the fuck up, and enjoy what you get, cause they don't owe us a damn thing, they've done this much out of love.

Sorry to come off as an ass, but DAMN...

This can't be from January 1967 -- it must be later in the year. It differs too much from the set lists and sound of only a month earlier. They were not playing New Potato Caboose, Alligator, or Caution (Do Not Step) at this time. Jerry's guitar style is far to evolved to have changed so drastically from a month earlier.

As for the show, it is good. The sound is poor, though. Yes, it's old, but there are many 1966 shows that sound better.

It could be the most goddawful concert ever in terms of sound quality. Or it could be the closest thing ever in terms of seeing what a fantastic, then underground San Francisco band could do. It sounds like someone in 2008 was walking down the street in San Francisco and opened up some mysterious door and looked into the Avalon Ballroom in 1967. When this show was recorded, if this was January 27, the boys had not yet released their first album. It was still a five piece, and their inspiration Neal Cassidy was still alive. I can just see him dancing to this music like his model Dean Moriarty did with "Old God Shearing" in On The Road. The highlights include the gentle beginning of the show with Morning Dew with some beautiful solos from Jerry. New Potato Caboose, my all time favorite song, is a big fat version with Himalayan vocals from Weir and skyrocketing organ playing from Pig. Unfortunately, Billy's drums and Weir's guitar are low in the mix but that shouldn't matter. I was not a big fan of Cold Rain being on this list so I deleted it from my iTunes so all you have is fierce and ferocious jamming. The Viola Lee Blues is a treat especially during part of Jerry's solo when it the sound goes way down a bit and then comes back on top. Alligator has that charm of sounding really mean and then sounding beautiful. And, of course when Caution ends, you are just so much apart of the psychedelic world now that you have to sit there in silence for so long.
This show is kind of like the Seven Samurai in that to enjoy it to its fullest, you must only listen to it once in a huge while. I've listened to this show and thought it was the most exciting music I've ever heard and then I've listened to it the next day and thought it was crap. So, after listening it last night after almost a year, I'm deciding that that's what I'm going to do.
Other thoughts: I love how New Potato Caboose fades out at the end.
Do you think that random guy who opened that mysterious door after left that room?

I initially gave this a minus star for the recording but, in fact, this is a more than adequate audience recording. The opportunity to experience the acoustics of the Avalon Ballroom can not be trivialized. WOW.

Highlights: the entirety of the Viola Lee of course, a song that rarely if ever reached the same heights after '67 (Binghampton 1970 being one arguable exception). The real standout, as is often the case in the pre-TC era, is the fantastic organ work by Pigpen. Check out the laser beam at 5:00 in the New Potato!!!!! The Alligator is blistering. From 8:00 minutes on the band never lets go of the third rail.

I am worried about the previous reviewer. Personally, I don't hear any versions of Ripple in this recording. But that doesn't mean that one isn't there, provided that one's mind is ready to hear it.

This show is my first download from this site. I was at this great show, and can't wait to hear it again. This show stands out for me, to hear a Ripple after all those years of going to shows was fantastic.

OK, I'M CONFUSED. EVERYONE SAYS THAT THESE SHOWS ARE NOT ON THE ARCHIVE ANYMORE, BUT I DOWNLOAD A NEW SHOW EVERYDAY. ANYWAYS... I BELIEVE THAT EVERY DEAD SHOW IS A GOOD SHOW. JUST WISH I COULD BEEN ALIVE BACK DURING THIS TIME.

this show is fantastic! i have to agree as someone said before that if you're a fan of 60s dead this audio won't bother you much...after listening for about 30 seconds your ears adjust and it sounds perfect. cool to hear an early new potato and morning dew is shining!

now for my two cents, and i'm sorry, i know this is annoying...

do you have any idea what i would give to have a website like this where i could stream donovan shows? syd barrett's pink floyd shows? jefferson airplane? arthur lee & love? etc etc...

if the grateful dead owe us anything at all (and of course they don't) they've more than fulfilled their obligation just by recording these shows for posterity...god bless owsley THE HUMAN BE-IN IS ON THIS SITE! ACID TESTS ARE ON THIS SITE! the archive and the grateful dead tapes are a miracle so get happy!

its an ok show, sound quality isnt all that great, but that should be expected.

This is a great concert. The audio quality of course leaves a lot to be desired, but so much for audience recording. Too bad all soundboard GD concerts were pulled out from this site. Streaming is a joke, of course. I have over 1500 hours of GD and JGB ready for trade. Everything is in lossless audio, like SHN, FLAC and APE. If you want to set up a trade, please contact me at greznikov@yahoo.com

Sure, if you're used to all the pristine GD soundboards out there, this sound quality on this recording just won't hold up. But compared to recordings of other bands from this era, this one sounds pretty darn good to me. Some insane jamming on "Viola Lee Blues" makes the whole thing worthwhile.

I'm glad shows like this are available and that someone had the presence of mind to tape them and nearly 40 years later we can listen to them. It's a bit rough but we can still 'go' to the Avalon Ballroom in January 1967 and listen to the GD before they had a record out.
I downloaded hundreds of SBDs before the GD pulled all of them, chances are I have one that you want. E-mail me at craigeyler@yahoo.com

anybody who complains about them needs a hole in their head

Fans of 60's era Dead shouldn't be frightened away by the comments here about sound quality. It's really not bad, by the standards of the time. Those who really care about what generation a soundboard is, one the other hand, should probably stay away from this end of the archive.
The Viola Lee is particularly fierce and trippy, preceded by a nice sounding New Potato Caboose.
As for the controversy swelling below, I'm with the guy who wrote "who said the Dead owe you anything?!" Sure, you paid lots to see shows etc., but if you weren't satisfied with what you got for your money, why didn't you simply stop spending it? Was someone forcing you to go to shows?(Of course I realize that the biggest complainers are those who generally sailed into shows on miracle tickets. Grow up, kids: free=paid for by somebody else).

i'm with rio blanco. this is a great piece of history recorded despite technological limitations. it's great to have these recordings at all. i remember getting some '67 cassettes over 20 years ago and listening to them over and over. even then, i thought the sound atrocious, but i loved the possibility of having an aural landscape (albeit a grainy black and white that survived a war) snapshot of a bygone era.

as far as the kvetching below, people just need to relax. there are plenty of places to trade if you are desperately seeking a board of something. since these were uploaded, there are WAY more crispy board seeds out there to trade. the only difference is that one has to get up out of the lay-z-boy, write a letter, make a friend, expand the community.

attitudes like that -- people yelling at bill graham in parking lots about ticket prices, trashing venues because they didn't have tickets, general disrespect combined with an expectation that they are owed something -- sometimes made me embarassed to be a head by guilt of association. but each community has its share of nincompoops.

what we all want to know is, "are you KIND?"

3 stars for history and listenability.

"Believe it if you need it." Enjoy this stuff in whatever form while it's still there and you're still there. How much can one expect in life? So why not make the most of it? Here's an idea. Why not make a goal of listening to each show here. That's what I'm doing to make the most of things. Granted, making the SBD downloads offlimits seems contrary to the spirit of Jerry, the spirit of the Grateful Dead, but to be positive, I can be grateful that I've had the chance to listen to all the 66 shows on Archive. Thanx.

this show is breathtaking, once you get used to the pretty awful sound quality... i think it might be only for the headphones... but once you're tuned in, the show itself is just ridiculous, searing jams, maybe one of the best 2 or 3 Viola Lee's ever... absolutely amazing, and thank goodness at least this much is here for us... Too many of us err on the side of judging the remaining brothers from the Dead by the values they had 40 yrs ago; that's why we get mad when stuff's pulled off the net... it's their right, certainly... but Bobby, guys, we think that allowing us free access to things online helps your business, not hurts it....

back to our regularly scheduled program...

Grateful Dead Rocks

boy, i sure wish i had a review of the show,
and not all of this stupid petty bitching!

I really can't believe what I'm reading. I love it when someone says Bobby is licking a dead man's ball sweat and then has the audacity to say "no offense." I love it that somehow touring with the Dead, going to live shows and getting your money's worth in live music, life experience, & lifetime memories somehow also entitles you to free downloads from the band. Is that why you toured all those years? Were you expecting a pension from the Dead? Jerry gave his fucking life to keep touring, and you're whining about what they band isn't giving you.

You're comparing Derek Trucks, or even Little Feat, to the Dead?? Try getting a free download from the Rolling Stones, or even ONE SINGLE vault release from Pink Floyd.

Show some fucking RESPECT and a little GRATITUDE for the incredible amount of music the Dead gave us live and continues to give us in an ongoing treasure of official releases, much less many months of this archive, you spoiled dickheads.

Who said the Dead owed you a FUCKING THING???

Fuckin money grubbing assholes! Mickey Hart and Bobby suck the sweat off a dead mans balls. No wonder Jerry went when he did, he was surrounded by perverted and greedy personalities. Hey Bobby guess whose not gonna be able to pick their next fuck friend out of the audience prick!


No offense to the archive. SOrry but I'm pissed.

After all what is left when the authors start taking back the books that make the library?

Ya'll know how I feel about shows not being available on the archive. I have always believed it's a travesty when they take off the commercial releases, and have berated the band for it. THIS IS ABSOLUTLY SHAMEFUL AND INSULTING. I am so stunned and hurt. I'm beyond my normal f-bomb spouting,Hippie,Irish bluster. For 35 years I have supported this band and they slap us in the face like this. SHAME ON THE GRATEFUL DEAD. This policy must be reversed or it will be the end of the Grateful Dead. Everyone get together on this and don't let up. There is no way to convey the beautiful legacy of the band with what they have (now) left us with. I just can't understand this decision. even on capitalist grounds. They must know that the archive has only the most minute effect on CD sales. I'm pissed and I'm sad.

sign the petition, people!
http://www.petitiononline.com/gdm/

Mbennett216@yahoo.com

please e-mail me for all the info you have on pulling the shows. Are Mickey, Phil, Bobby, and Bill for it? Are they against it? I know everything about the pulling of the shows, exept the bands views. Please e-mail me if you know anything about the boys opinions.

Originally it was about Family, It still should be. The Grateful Dead was one of the first to allow tapers, The first to allow their music to be reborn in every show by breathing new life into each through artistic transformations. By taking away wide access to their shows we are losing the identity of the musicians that can only be found live. No one can ever understand their music through their albums. This wouldn't have been allowed if Jerry Bear was still around. Who ever made this decision should figure out where their loyalties are. To the faithful follower, the heads or to the Royalties.

Love, Light, Happiness,
LB Sunshine

Originally it was about Family, It still should be. The Grateful Dead was one of the first to allow tapers, The first to allow their music to be reborn in every show by breathing new life into each through artistic transformations. By taking away wide access to their shows we are losing the identity of the musicians that can only be found live. No one can ever understand their music through their albums. This wouldn't have been allowed if Jerry Bear was still around. Who ever made this decision should figure out where their loyalties are. To the faithful follower, the heads or to the Royalties.

Love, Light, Happiness,
LB Sunshine

. . . to give one's 2 cents worth:

It's been very nice having shows up on archive.org since March 2004. Now the rules have changed. It's unfortunate, but life goes on. The GD was never intended to be a charity, and we were never entitled to anything for free.

What the hell is going on?! Why was everything deleted?

I find it ironic that firstly, you dropped large amounts of music, second, you call yourselves music fans(I'm sure), but more so than that, what you've left dosen't paint the correct picture of Jerry Garcia, who for all intents and purposes ,was probably the finest blues guitarist of all time and that's best reflected in the years' of 65-67. You've whitewashed two complete years and left two shows from 67 that do an injustice.
But, like everything in life , this is another example of greed.
Furthermore, the remaining band members indeed do need financial assistance due to their talents faultering and whatever bad habits.

im fucking angry also , you can't even download the ones they have now, but no monterey (67) or even WOODSTOCK which was a beautifual preformance, im sad and i hope they fucking shape up... i like new potato caboose in this run

Get them while you still can!

Plus 6-8-74. Still has 2nd set sbd....

FUCK THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT
WHOEVER THE FUCK DECIDED TO TAKE EVERYTHING OFF OF ARCHIVE ARE FUCKING ASSHOLES
FUCK YOU.

FUCK THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT
WHOEVER THE FUCK DECIDED TO TAKE EVERYTHING OFF OF ARCHIVE ARE FUCKING ASSHOLES
FUCK YOU.

Listening to this tape, I found that Morning Dew and New Potato Caboose are the same performances (note-for-note) from 10/22/67! Don't believe me? Compare them yourself. For those two songs, this AUD is just a different source.
I'm a little less clear on Viola through Caution since those tunes obviously don't appear on the circulating 10/22. It's possible, though doubtful, that Viola, Cold Rain and Alligator>Caution are from 10/22, since that show is not complete. But more likely, those four songs are from a show much later in the year, since Alligator allegedly didn't appear until Spring 1967, and certainly this 'gator sounds more developed than 5/5 or 6/18. Obviously it's from later in the year, like September/October.

It's too bad the sound quality is so horrible. The viola lee is the only thing that actually sounds decent, and it's a pretty damn good rendition! If the horrible sound doesnt bother you, then this is a real gem. Enjoy it, in all its muddy, psychedelic glory.

According to Deadbase (III), this was the very first show with Alligator, and they wouldn't perform it again until 5/5/67.

The sound quality unfortunately is almost unlistenable, as "Alligator," "New Potato Caboose," and "Viola Lee Blues" apparently were knockout performances. The solos on "Viola Lee Blues" are mostly listenable and should interest diehard fans who don't need stereo.

To me, these shows are such a valuable treasure, that I'll put up w/ the poor sound quality. I've heard worse. The set list, the groovy fat sound, the glimpse in their skyrocketing progress, all this is so valuable, and is such a blessing for those searching for new versions of this or that particular song. New Potato, for instance, sounds so fresh. Ya can just feel the acid in the air. Appreciate this gem for what she yields.

you know what? i was around and taping the same era as this recording was made. for those born into the digital age, you have to remember -- back then the technology was really primitive for audience tapers. i mean, we're going back to the days of 8-tracks! cassettes were "the next big thing"! so if this was recorded with a hand held mic and a mono cassette recorder, it might have been state-of-the-art....for that time. that's the way things were then. i'm just glad that someone captured it at all.

Good for collectors of history - bad if you want sound quality.

The show sounds like it was recorded on a cheap hand held mono cassette recorder.

Low rating for sound quality.